Abstract

Abstract

Rapid and accurate measurement of atmospheric concentrations of highly volatile organic compounds is important in obtaining reliable information for the assessment of environmental pollution or the volatilization mechanisms of the chemicals. Nonmechanized sample collection requires intensive labor and effort, and may cause large random or systematic errors. An automated solenoid switching system was developed to assist in obtaining precise environmental concentrations of highly volatile organic compounds. The design, construction, and operation are described in the paper for potential application in similar studies. Using this sampling system, two experiments were conducted to determine atmospheric volatilization flux density of three highly volatile and reactive organic compounds (methyl bromide, 1,3-dichloropropene, and propargyl bromide). The automated solenoid switching system significantly reduced the requirements for labor and time. Results from the two experiments indicate that reliable sample collection was achieved. The automated sampling system was also relatively inexpensive and can be easily modified to accommodate a variety of sources, sampling intervals, and multiple number of solenoid valves.

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